TEDA budget commits to phaseout

Published: Saturday, December 14, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, December 14, 2013 at 12:21 a.m.

The Terrebonne Parish Economic Development Authority will ponder ways to wind down services after committing to passing a streamlined budget to end its operations for the foreseeable future.

The commitment came at a special board meeting on Friday.

At the meeting, Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet addressed the organization’s board for the first time since he proposed stripping the organization of its primary source of revenue, its $600,000 annual take of parish occupational licensing fees.

The Terrebonne Parish Council went along with that proposal earlier this month, leaving the organization with only a trickle of revenue, but about $1 million in reserves.

Those reserves have been the subject of much conversation since. Claudet and oher members of the business community have implored TEDA to return that money to the parish administration, which will conduct the economic development duties previously assigned to the organization.

But TEDA’s administration didn’t initially comply, presenting a budget Friday that kept many expenses at near the current level by dipping into those reserves.

Addressing the board, Claudet for the first time illustrated his grievances with the organization’s recent work and its ousted CEO Steve Vassallo.

Claudet complained the organization showed a lack of familiarity with state incentive programs, visitation and assistance to existing businesses, knowledge about major business relocations and consolidations, and follow-up on leads passed along by the parish administration.

He also panned the organization’s recruitment efforts, saying new businesses were referred to parish government for processing, there was inadequate inventory of real estate for potential businesses and no assistance was provided on possible projects and relocations.

“With Southern Crane, that had nothing to do with Steve,” Claudet said. “Schottel is here now because of Gary Chouest and Thomasea. That’s some of their biggest customers.”

He also said the organization had fallen behind on programming typically offered by such organizations. Specifically he mentioned discontinuing loan and grant programs and inaction on reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program.

Claudet also said state officials were not particularly interested in continuing the economic relationship with Weihai, China, one of the main talking points of the TEDA’s recent administration.

Claudet told the board he’d like to see the organization go out of existence, reform, amend its governing documents and return sometime in the coming years.

On TEDA’s reserve money, Claudet and other board members argued there should not be two economic development entities with the same aim and said the reserves are essentially taxpayer dollars paid in by organizations expecting the money to be used by the economic development organization representing the parish.

Since that will no longer be TEDA for at least a year, the board agreed to pass its budget but amend it at its Jan. 8 meeting after a committee has had time to discuss severances for TEDA’s employees and other matters pertaining to the organization going dormant.

“We will meet Jan. 8 and have some finality about where we are going to go,” said board member Douglas Graham.

<p>The Terrebonne Parish Economic Development Authority will ponder ways to wind down services after committing to passing a streamlined budget to end its operations for the foreseeable future. </p><p>The commitment came at a special board meeting on Friday. </p><p>At the meeting, Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet addressed the organization's board for the first time since he proposed stripping the organization of its primary source of revenue, its $600,000 annual take of parish occupational licensing fees. </p><p>The Terrebonne Parish Council went along with that proposal earlier this month, leaving the organization with only a trickle of revenue, but about $1 million in reserves. </p><p>Those reserves have been the subject of much conversation since. Claudet and oher members of the business community have implored TEDA to return that money to the parish administration, which will conduct the economic development duties previously assigned to the organization. </p><p>But TEDA's administration didn't initially comply, presenting a budget Friday that kept many expenses at near the current level by dipping into those reserves. </p><p>Addressing the board, Claudet for the first time illustrated his grievances with the organization's recent work and its ousted CEO Steve Vassallo. </p><p>Claudet complained the organization showed a lack of familiarity with state incentive programs, visitation and assistance to existing businesses, knowledge about major business relocations and consolidations, and follow-up on leads passed along by the parish administration. </p><p>He also panned the organization's recruitment efforts, saying new businesses were referred to parish government for processing, there was inadequate inventory of real estate for potential businesses and no assistance was provided on possible projects and relocations. </p><p>“With Southern Crane, that had nothing to do with Steve,” Claudet said. “Schottel is here now because of Gary Chouest and Thomasea. That's some of their biggest customers.” </p><p>He also said the organization had fallen behind on programming typically offered by such organizations. Specifically he mentioned discontinuing loan and grant programs and inaction on reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program.</p><p>Claudet also said state officials were not particularly interested in continuing the economic relationship with Weihai, China, one of the main talking points of the TEDA's recent administration. </p><p>Claudet told the board he'd like to see the organization go out of existence, reform, amend its governing documents and return sometime in the coming years. </p><p>“We can restart TEDA prior to my administration ending,” Claudet said. “That I can pledge to you.” </p><p>On TEDA's reserve money, Claudet and other board members argued there should not be two economic development entities with the same aim and said the reserves are essentially taxpayer dollars paid in by organizations expecting the money to be used by the economic development organization representing the parish. </p><p>Since that will no longer be TEDA for at least a year, the board agreed to pass its budget but amend it at its Jan. 8 meeting after a committee has had time to discuss severances for TEDA's employees and other matters pertaining to the organization going dormant. </p><p>“We will meet Jan. 8 and have some finality about where we are going to go,” said board member Douglas Graham.</p>